


before the breakdown breaks you for good

by shutupandcheer



Category: We Are The Tigers - Allen
Genre: Alcohol, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Nonbinary Character, Other, References to Drugs, chess is just a nickname and their name is cheyenne that they picked bc same chess, demigirl farrah, nonbinary chess, transfem kate!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:53:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27273727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shutupandcheer/pseuds/shutupandcheer
Summary: Chess and Farrah both fucked up. Riley knew she had to do something about them. (title from: before the breakdown)
Relationships: Annleigh & Farrah (We Are The Tigers), Chess & Kate (We Are The Tigers)
Kudos: 6





	before the breakdown breaks you for good

Chess felt their chest tighten at Kate’s accusations. Or was it the bottle Kate shoved at them? Either way, Chess didn’t appreciate it. They could do just fine emotionally numb, thank you very much. They glared at the bright orange pill bottle, seemingly reflecting, before they opened it, emptied the pills into Riley’s shrubs, and threw the bottle as hard as they could manage. After they did so, they sat against the gate, staring blankly at their hands. If there were one thing Chess knew in that second, it was self-hatred. The words they had said to Kate, and the words Kate said to them, kept playing through their head. 

Everyone had always told Chess they could be better. They could be a better student, a better friend, a better gymnast, a better person. And for the most part, that was okay. They knew everyone was correct. They could work harder in their English classes. They could put aside their issues and listen to their friends. They could spend that extra hour a day they’d normally be drawing to work on their tumbles. They could be better. Until the accident, Chess had always taken pride in their ability to do tumbles and flips. Until they missed the pole and hit their leg doing a round-off, of all things. 

After the accident, everyone was so on edge around Chess. Always giving them reassurance that they didn’t have to go back to sports, didn’t have to wear themself out. In some ways, it was spite and spite alone that convinced Chess to join the Tigers their junior year. They enjoyed it, but not as much as gymnastics. They started perfecting their emotionally disconnected persona. Slight smile at any given second, fidgeting with their jacket if anyone tried to get too close to her, the perfect outfits… nothing would look right if Chess didn’t keep perfecting themself.

Chess was brought out of their thoughts by heavy stomping. They jolted, scratched a bit at the side of their face, and yelled out, “Give… give me 5 minutes, okay? I just need a minute..!” The steps halted for a moment, before continuing.

The last thing Chess ever heard was their scream as they felt a knife hit them in their upper chess. They went unconscious from the searing pain. An hour later, Cheyenne Tremblay was pronounced dead at the scene.


End file.
